1. Lewis Brinson, OF
Birthdate: 5/8/94 (22 years old)
Level(s) Played in 2016: rookie, AA, AAA
Stats in 2016: .268/.305/.468, 15 HR, 17 SB
Brinson may have the highest-graded mix of tools in the minor leagues right now. While many may have higher hit grades or power grades or such, Brinson has a legit plus or fringe-plus on every single tool across the board.
He came out in his first professional season after being a first round selection in 2012 to have a 20/20 season in 2013, flashing his power and speed, but also finishing with 191 strikeouts on the season. Since, he’s made impressive progress to the point of striking out only 87 times this season in 104 games.
After being traded from the Rangers to the Brewers, Milwaukee jumped Brinson up to AAA, and he responded well, hitting .382 with a 1.005 OPS, 4 home runs, and 4 steals in his 23 games with Colorado Springs.
Brinson has come a long ways in reducing his strikeouts, but he does still struggle to take walks. Part of his avoidance of strikeouts has been attacking pitches he can work with earlier in the count, which means he doesn’t often get deep enough into the count to work a walk.
Brinson has also done excellent work defensively, taking raw plus speed and a fringe-plus arm and turned them into a very good center fielder as he improved his routes to balls.
Brinson will likely open the season with Colorado Springs, but it wouldn’t surprise if he made a push to Milwaukee’s lineup sooner rather than later.
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